Let’s talk nerdy: the ins and outs of protein supplementation

December 1, 2015

Oh, protein. You’re so essential, yet so misunderstood.

Hi friends! Happy first day of December! I’m hoping to bring back the Let’s Talk Nerdy Series now that I’m reading research studies daily (PubMed and I are best friends) and feel more confident about the information I am sharing. The first topic to reignite the series: PROTEIN!

Yesterday, we had the long-awaited protein debate in my metabolism class. The question posed was: do protein supplements provide any benefit to the normal population? Early in the quarter, we were assigned to the ‘yes’ or to the ‘no’ team and had to work with our group to come up with an argument for our case. Everyone wanted the ‘no’ team because that would be the easiest case to argue; but, I was a proud member of team YES! 🙂

“Normal” could not include extreme athletes, but we tried to argue that ‘normal’ includes a range of people who aren’t just healthy adults. Suffice to say, we presented a good argument (I may be biased) but the class generally agreed that most normal healthy adults do not need protein supplementation.

[Side note: protein supplementation can benefit certain populations like the elderly, patients recovering from gastric bypass, people with PKU, etc.]

So, is it possible to consume too much protein? Yes. In fact, the majority of people in the United States eat far more protein than necessary.

What happens to protein from the diet? To simplify, the body breaks down the protein from our diet into amino acids and uses them for a variety of functions. When basic requirements for amino acids have been met, amino acids are converted to fatty acids and stored as adipose tissue (aka fat.) Yes, excess protein is stored as fat.

The recommended DRI (Daily Recommended Intake) of protein is 0.8g/kg/day, or 0.36g/lb/day. For a 130 lb adult, that’s 46.8 grams of protein per day. What does this look like? About 0.5 lb of chicken breast. Not a lot, eh?

Other concerns:

Protein supplements do not go through a stringent review process by the FDA, although this is likely to change. What does this mean? Read the labels (!) and make smart choices. If you don’t recognize the ingredients, don’t buy the product.

My personal conclusions

Do I think protein supplements are bad? No. Would I use them regularly? No. However, during strenuous exercise (like training for a marathon,) I would consider using a protein supplement (such as Vega.)

There are a lot of misconceptions about protein floating around on the internet and by word of mouth. High-protein diets are all the rage, but I want to clarify that a high protein diet does not always equate to healthier.

A normal person can get their DRI of protein from real food.

Sources

The information included in this post is a recap of the debate we had in my graduate-level nutrition class yesterday.

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About Lauren

Lauren Rice, MPH recently graduated from the Coordinated Dietetics Program at the University of Washington. In January 2017, she opened Nutrition Elevated, her anti-diet, #bodypositive nutrition counseling and consulting small business (www.nutrition-elevated.com).

Comments

This is such a great post Lauren! I’m about to train for a marathon and would definitely consider trying a protein supplement. I’ve never used one before, but occasionally add protein powder to overnight oats or something. Thank you for this information and for actually citing sources. A lot of people just say information and don’t back it up so this is really great.Be sure to check out Gretchen | Gretchruns.com’s recent post: Monthly Goals : December

Love this post! When recovering from my knee surgery and trying to re-build my quad, my physical therapist recommended I get 130g/protein per day. Needless to say, I did a ton of research on the best calorie/protein ratios in real foods and ate a whooooole lot of seafood and eggs 🙂 I also added in protein powder (I am a big Vega Protein & Greens fan), and while I definitely aimed to intake most of my protein from real food, in that case I was a-okay with supplementing. Now that I’m more or less back to normal, I use protein powder a lot less regularly since I know I’m getting plenty in my everyday diet.

As a suggestion for your next topic in the series – how about juicing?

Hi Lauren! Protein is excellent for rebuilding muscle 🙂 Did she suggest any specific amino acids to help rebuild muscle? I’m just curious because leucine (an essential amino acid) is typically doted as the ‘muscle-building’ amino acid. I haven’t treid Greens, but I’ll look into it if I ever feel the need to supplement. Thanks for the juicing suggestion! I’ll see what I can come up with. I hope you’re recovering quickly! XO

YESS YES YES I love this. As a plant based eater, I find this topic to be soo annoying when it comes to those that try to argue I need SO MUCH more protein than I am getting (I average about 50g). Don’t get me wrong, when I run longer miles I do supplement at times with a pea protein, but otherwise I don’t stress it and listen to my body. I like Vega, but I have a pea protein that seems to sit well that is just pea, no other ingredients. I love the Talk Nerdy, keep it going!

Hi Britt! We definitely aruged that vegetarians/vegans are ‘normal,’ but not everyone agreed 😉 We found a lot of studies that concluded that protein supplements benefit vegetarians/vegans. It sounds like you’ve found something that works great for you, so yay!

Great post, Lauren – I love how you gave such a thorough interview over all of the facts! I personally don’t use protein supplements, although Vega would certainly be my choice if I needed to. I tried a protein supplement a few years ago when smoothies were my go-to breakfast on busy mornings and just didn’t like it. I get my protein from real foods, especially since we eat a fair amount of organic beef, fish, or chicken in our household.Be sure to check out Laura @ This Runner’s Recipes’s recent post: 5 Quick and Effective Running Workouts for the Holidays

I’ve used protein supplements in the form of protein powder a few times in my life, but not currently. As a vegetarian, it can be a little more challenging to get my intake of protein, but it’s in so many things!Be sure to check out Lisa @ Lisa the Vegetarian’s recent post: Play! by Sephora Subscription Box

Great post! There’s this whole wave of high protein diet popularity these days, but it’s interesting because like you said, most Americans actually get too much protein already. When people hear that I’m a plant based eater, the #1 question I get is, “So how do you get protein??” It’s kind of crazy/annoying!

Yes, most days I throw 1/2 scoop of a vegan protein supplement into my smoothies or pancake mix for a boost. I workout a lot and use it as a protein source post-workout. There are a lot of sketchy protein supplements on the market, so I make sure to use a high quality one!Be sure to check out Nicole @ Foodie Loves Fitness’s recent post: Thanksgiving Weekend + Ways to Find a Healthy Balance Over the Holiday Season

Haha, I can totally relate to the protein question! I was asked the same thing when I was a vegetarian 🙂 There are definitely sketchy supplements on the market….but I won’t touch those with a 10 foot pole!

This is awesome! Thanks for all the info! I’ve been learning about protein/ DRIs/ diet, everything! in my nutrition class… and I feel like you summed it up so well! I totally agree with you. I don’t think protein powder is necessarily bad, but I definitely don’t take it often and if I did it would have to been soy and dairy free (and tasty!)… which I have yet to find. I much prefer to get my protein from real foods as well!Be sure to check out Cailee’s recent post: Hello Healthy Holidays- How to Stay Active!

What a great read. I definitely agree with your points here, and Vega is my top pick too. I do use it every day, but find 1/2 a scoop is plenty. Too much protein powder doesn’t make me feel as great as healthy, whole foods do. Great post!Be sure to check out Heather McClees’s recent post: Ten Things Tuesday: Week 24

So interesting! Thanks for sharing! I’ve never tried protein powder on my own (I’m sure it’s been in a few smoothies I’ve slurped) but mostly because it’s a tad expensive for my grad school budget and natural sources (not that all protein powders are unnatural, but you know what I mean!) tend to be much cheaper.

I love this post! I wrote something similar earlier this year. I think there are so many misinformed people when it comes to protein. I blame the internet and IG. Don’t even get me started on normal people eating Quest Bars!Be sure to check out Pragati // Simple Medicine’s recent post: Let’s Talk Cents: Saving Through the Holidays

I’ve told you that I love this post, but Imma say it again!!! You did a wonderful job of laying out the facts, without getting to heavy with the content. I’d love to read about the other categories too: carbs, fats, etc!Be sure to check out Jess @hellotofit’s recent post: How to Live in the Present Moment

I admit, I use a protein supplement almost every day. My dinners are regularly a giant smoothie with Vega powder, some frozen fruit, leafy greens, and water. Why? Because I’m lazy. I admit it. My diet sucks, and I’m working to clean it up, but if left to my own devices, I would eat cereal for dinner every night. This way, I’m getting slightly better nutrition. I hope.Be sure to check out Megan’s recent post: Things that cause confusion in airport security

Hello and welcome!

I'm LAUREN, and I started Just a Pinch in 2014 when I was applying to graduate school to become a registered dietitian nutritionist. In 2017, I started my own small business, Nutrition Elevated, LLC, to help share the breadth of knowledge I learned as a nutrition graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle!